Chapter 37

[A/N: Thank you for over 1k collections!]

The Mirror of Erised, or the Mirror that showed you your deepest desire, was right in front of me. I doubted any of the present enchanters could even replicate something of this level, let alone create one.

Ever since I had been transmigrated to this world, I don't think I had ever taken a step back and just relaxed. I'd been training and studying for so long, it seemed like that's all that was left in my life. But, either due to the influence of the black boxes or the feeling of getting stronger, I wasn't averse to that kind of lifestyle. However, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, wanted to be. Becoming strong, sure, that was a goal, but it wasn't my end game. Finding the guy who reincarnated me in this world, yes, also a priority, but it too wasn't my ultimate goal. Exploring the world, also a wonderful goal, but still...I don't think that's what I really wanted. And finally I could find out what I really desired, and give an answer to all those questions that had started to plague me.

So it was with a bit of trepidation that I stepped in front of the mirror after closing my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes...only to find a reflection of me staring back at me. I waited for a while to see something else, something that would clue me in to my greatest desire, but minutes passed and the Mirror of Erised remained just a....normal mirror.

To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I knew that the Mirror wasn't omnipotent, there was no way something actually could be omnipotent, but I didn't think it wouldn't be able to show me my deepest desire. I pondered on the reason and it didn't even take me a second to realise the truth..the black boxes. And then, for a second, I felt something that was taking hold over me...shatter? The feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come, as if it had been an illusion but I didn't think it was a figment of my imagination, I immediately cast every manner of diagnostic spell I knew and that's when I saw, lodged deeply in my soul, one of the black boxes had a crack in it!

Ever since I had discovered these black boxes, I knew they weren't simple, after all they turned a 11 year boy into a being who could bring down buildings and lift cars! But...for some reason..I had never actually doubted them, I had never questioned them deeply, I just had a superficial amount of curiosity regarding them. And now I knew the answer..the black boxes were manipulating me, i.e. the guy who planted these black boxes into me was manipulating me through them, and the reason I never cared was because he...programmed me to not question them?

This revelation hit me harder than I was capable of hitting someone, and that was saying something considering I could punch through walls at this point. How much of what I did was me and how much was this... god? Was I really 'me' at this point? What else did he put in those black boxes? So many questions, and no answers.

I should have known something wasn't right with those boxes. Who knows if my whole chunnibuyou escapade was also due to the manipulation of these boxes....Of course, it was the black boxes! Every single thing in my life had been related to those black boxes. They are what made me so strong right now, and they were also the things that were manipulating me, are still manipulating me. I was like a goddamn puppet of the guy who implanted those black boxes in me, for some nefarious purpose or just for his/her amusement.

All right, I don't know how I broke through its manipulation or if this too was just another plan of the being who had sent me to this world. But what I did know was, I now had a goal, that came beyond every other desire of mine.

No, I wasn't going to swear vengeance on the guy who put those boxes on me. I wasn't stupid enough to take on the guy who could do something like that. But I was going to render its manipulations useless. I was going to figure out what each of these boxes did, and then destroy the ones that were questionable and make the beneficial ones mine. And earlier, I had managed to decipher to some extent what some of those boxes could do, so I just had to have faith that my findings weren't some sort of plan or manipulation of the godly being, and instead those black boxes could actually be studied.

It was a difficult and risky goal, but well, everything had been too smooth-sailing for me so far. Now I was finally going to face some hurdles that every fantasy protagonist has to go through but I knew, I couldn't depend on my 'plot armor', not that I had deciphered it's true nature.

But first things first, I had to take what I came here for. And to do that, I had to keep being stupid and use the best ability that the black boxes had provided me.

I fired the Integrator at the Mirror of Erised and it crumbled into ashes in a few seconds, dissolving the wards surrounding it in the process. Rushing forwards, I grabbed the Philosopher's Stone that had fallen to the floor and hightailed it out of there, all the while firing constant diagnostic and scrying charms on the Stone and dispelling the tracking and other charms I was finding.

I made it to the RoR in just a few moments thanks to my superhuman speed but I wasn't exactly subtle because sadly, agility was something I was sorely lacking right now. I really needed to get to the Forest at some point...

Under the safety of the RoR, I fired the Integrator at the Stone, as the integration process from the Mirror had ended by now, and to my relief, the Stone quickly disintegrated into ash. I was worried if the Integrator would work on something like the Stone, but thankfully it did.

Before I could take another breath, I felt a huge influx of energy rushing into me, and I felt as if I was about to explode from the sheer amount. Soon, my body started to restructure itself to contain the energy by using the...energy, which was needless to say, quite painful. I couldn't even muster the will to detach myself from the pain, and for some reason, I didn't pass out. So the only thing I could do was endure the...hellish.... pain..

And suddenly the process ended and I fell to my knees, weak, breathless, sweaty, trembling. I just lay there for a while thinking, 'If this is how it felt everytime I used the Integrator, I might have to reconsider my plan.'